


Smuggler for Hire

by rowerowemyboat



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Dream Cuddling, Dream Sex, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Inappropriate Use of the Force, Jedi in training, Minor grief (Rey's parents), Mutual Masturbation, Rey (Star Wars) is Nobody, Smuggler Ben Solo, Smut, Vaginal Fingering, clueless ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:15:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23499634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowerowemyboat/pseuds/rowerowemyboat
Summary: Smuggler Ben Solo takes on an assignment from the First Order to fetch a valuable asset and drop it off at an assigned point. However, when he arrives on Jakku to pick up the asset, he discovers not the sort of cargo he usually deals with - this cargo is a very confused, very angry but very pretty 19-year-old scavenger named Rey. With the mystery of what exactly the First Order would want with an orphaned scavenger in the air, what happens next? Does he deliver her to the First Order, no questions asked, or do something he swore never to do - take a risk for someone else?For the Writing Den's Anniversary Fic Exchange 2020!
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 82
Collections: Anniversary Fic Exchange 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [OccasionallyCreative](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OccasionallyCreative/gifts).



> “Hey, girl…” he says softly to the crate, remembering Plutt’s comment. 
> 
> She bites. 
> 
> “I know you’re probably scared now, but you’re safe while you’re with me. I’m not here to hurt you.”
> 
> If someone asked Ben what he expected to happen next, he would have said that maybe the animal would be silent, maybe the animal would growl, maybe the animal would pound harder, maybe the animal would thrust open the crate and reveal itself as a starbird, a fantastical being come to life. 
> 
> He was certainly not expecting the animal to talk.
> 
> “Who are you? Where am I?”

A job was a job.

The “no questions asked” jobs paid the most, and First Order jobs paid even more. And here he was, fortunate enough to secure a contract that was both. 

Ben Solo saw himself as a lifelong smuggler. Even in infancy, his father had taken him on all sorts of smuggling jobs, even if he hadn’t always intended to bring his son along. His mother didn’t approve of him learning his father’s trade, probably because she was a key politician in the New Republic she helped build after the fall of the Galactic Empire. 

There was a brief stint where Ben was sent to live with his uncle after developing Force abilities, another family trait. But traveling among the stars called to him, so he left after four long years of training and restraining every desire the Jedi of old forbade. He began his own smuggling career as a 19-year-old, after scraping together enough credits for a small starship of his own. 

He began to develop a reputation for completing jobs quickly and discreetly, with few rules on what jobs he would accept. Ben would complete jobs for the New Republic that they didn’t want on official record, but he also had no problem dealing with the Hutts of the Outer Rim and other underworld figures. 

His work as a smuggler was not without consequences.

When he was 23, Ben and his parents had a falling out over the unsavory types he would work for and he cut all ties with his family and left home, stealing his father’s prized possession: the _Millennium Falcon_. It had been nearly six years now since he had seen his parents… 

Nevermind that.

This time he was on some backwater planet on the Outer Rim - Jakku - and his contact told him that he was to pick up some cargo, “a valuable asset” of some sort, and deliver it to Ord Mantell into the custody of the First Order. He didn’t know what size or even what the cargo was, but he could figure out logistics later. If no questions were to be asked, he’d needed to be able to roll with the punches. 

Jakku was another desolate desert planet, a hot and thirsty world full of desperation and survival by any means necessary. Ben walked through Niima Outpost; the outpost passed for a town on this planet. Vendors were set up throughout the outpost, selling their wares scavenged from ships that had crashed onto the planet from past battles, thousands of miles into the sky. 

His black boots were already coated with dust from the twenty minutes he spent walking through the mingled dirt and sand. His clothing, black jacket and pants, wasn’t doing him any favors from the heat. He felt the sweat trickling down his back as the dark fabric absorbed the desert heat and regretted not leaving the leather jacket back on the _Falcon_. It would be easier to just wear the vest and shirt he had on underneath. Everything of importance was always tucked into his vest anyways. 

His blaster gently slapped his muscular thigh as he walked through the outpost. He ignored the vendors that called out to him selling portable moisture farming equipment and what looked like local desert rodents roasted on spits. He hoped he looked intimidating enough to not be directly approached.This did nothing to stop the merchants from selling their wares. 

“Sir! Would you be interested in purchasing a new ship? That bucket of bolts you came in on looks like it won’t take another landing!”

Ben glared darkly at this particular vendor. He was defensive against the insults that were commonly thrown at the _Falcon_. He was annoyed he was like his father in this regard.

Eventually, he reached the center of Niima Outpost, a shop set up with more permanent fixtures. His contact was inside, Unkar Plutt. The Crolute was immediately recognizable by his large stature and sagging flesh. It was uncommon to see Crolutes off their home planet, so Plutt stood out.

Ben approached the Crolute and hailed him.

“Unkar Plutt?”

“Yes?” Plutt’s small eyes stared down at him. Ben was tall and large by humanoid standards, but Plutt towered over him. It reminded him of how he felt around one of his uncles, a Wookie he literally looked up to. 

“I’m Ben Solo. I am here to collect the asset.”

“You’re late.”

Ben didn’t say anything to dispute the fact. The _Falcon_ was fast, but she wasn’t the most reliable ship. He had to delay his departure this morning to make some last minute repairs so he could arrive at Jakku in one piece. 

Plutt gestured to one side of his shop and escorted Ben over to a large crate, about three feet long, three feet tall, and two feet wide. It was a simply designed box with what looked like air holes in it. The crate opened from the top and was held secure by a primitive latch that could be opened from the outside, but not the inside.

He could hear heavy breathing from the crate. It must be some sort of animal; it was likely some First Order general wanted an exotic pet from Jakku for his menagerie. The “valuable asset” label was probably just for the expense report. Even so, Ben liked animals, so just knowing he was delivering one made this job more interesting for him. He hoped for the creature’s sake that the recipient of this delivery cared for animals as well.

Ben had always wanted an animal of his own, but the transient life he led made it difficult to care for a pet. He got into too many dangerous entanglements. Plus, pets made you get attached and any enemy could take advantage of that affection. He couldn’t afford to let anyone get leverage over him.

Plutt dismissed Ben’s silence and began to tell him more about the cargo.

“The sedative will wear off in a few hours. If you had gotten here earlier, you wouldn’t have had to deal with that. The crate will keep her in and we’ve put restraints on her. Be careful, she bites.” With the last statement, he motioned over to one of his employees. Both of their left arms were heavily bandaged. 

Ben nodded in understanding and borrowed a hand cart to load the asset onto the Falcon.The animal inside slid against the side of the crate towards him as he pulled the dolly back. Gingerly, he moved the crate carefully through the market back to the _Falcon_ , weaving through the pedestrians. He loaded the crate into the cargo hold, returning the hand cart back to Plutt’s shop. It was still early in the afternoon. He could probably make it to Ord Mantell by evening and drop off the asset in the morning. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Taking off from Jakku was no problem at all, thankfully. After making the jump to hyperspace, Ben opted to make some minor repairs to the _Falcon_ in the cargo hold. He could kill time and also keep an eye on the animal in the crate. She might be scared of her new situation and maybe he could calm her down.

He had a technique he could try that he picked up at his uncle’s Jedi academy.

After dragging his toolbox to the cargo hold and working for about an hour and half on the same problem, Ben started to agree with what the vendor had shouted out at him earlier.

_Damn hunk of junk…_

Even if sometimes he had bitter feelings toward the ship, he still loved the _Falcon_. It was the only place that ever felt truly like home. 

The silence of his thoughts was interrupted by a sudden pounding. 

Ben immediately turned towards the crate, he suspected that the sound came from the animal. Either that or he had even more repairs to make. The pounding started again and the crate quivered from the force exerted upon it from the inside.

The animal was trying to escape. 

The poor thing must be stressed right now from waking up in a dark, unfamiliar space. 

It had been a while since he called upon his abilities, but maybe he could help calm the creature. It also might be fun to get a glimpse of what was inside and know what he was working with. He wasn’t usually nosey about cargo, but he didn’t usually transport animals either. He would need to be able to touch the creature anyways to calm her down.

“Hey, girl…” he says softly to the crate, remembering Plutt’s comment. 

_She bites._

“I know you’re probably scared now, but you’re safe while you’re with me. I’m not here to hurt you.”

If someone asked Ben what he expected to happen next, he would have said that maybe the animal would be silent, maybe the animal would growl, maybe the animal would pound harder, maybe the animal would thrust open the crate and reveal itself as a starbird, a fantastical being come to life. There was a range of uncertainties he would expect from a captive animal. 

He was certainly not expecting the animal to _talk._

“Who are you? Where am I?” the creature shouted, enraged. 

A sentient.

One of Ben’s hard rules as a smuggler was that he would not transport unwilling sentient cargo, including prisoners. He wasn’t a slaver after all and still had to have _some_ principles, even if he worked for unsavory characters. 

It was clear now that he had been hired to transport a sentient to the First Order, one that spoke Basic in a feminine voice. Ben remained silent, not sure how to proceed. It was probably better for them not to talk at all. He could ignore her, deliver her, and then lock away this memory along with all the other bad shit he’s done, including the voice that sent dark whispers into his mind.

A whimper came from the crate. 

“Let me out!”

Her cry for help elicited sympathy from Ben. He felt a pang in his heart and shook his head, willing it away. Now he wasn’t sure if he could go through with his delivery, but he could expect a dip in his reputation if he didn’t complete the job. 

The First Order might even put a bounty on his head if this prisoner was valuable enough. They were no longer the burgeoning military group they had been several years ago. The First Order was conquering new worlds every day and was in open war against the New Republic.

Keeping all this in mind, Ben cautiously turned and undid the latch and lifted the top of the crate up. Inside, a very confused humanoid girl sat, with her knees drawn up. She was forced to sit in the small space of the crate with a pair of stun cuffs on her wrists. 

The girl was breathing heavily and stared at Ben with a wild, fearful expression. She was dressed in rags and wore a cowl and goggles pulled up to her forehead. Her eyes were light brown and pretty, like her face, even with all the dirt.

She was _very_ pretty. 

The girl’s expression mutated from confusion and fear to rage. 

It turns out she was also very _angry._

In response to her sudden change, Ben lifted his head up and stepped away from the crate, but it was too late to escape her wrath. Despite the stun cuffs on her wrists, the girl still managed to grab his shirt and viciously headbutt his forehead. 

Dazed by the attack, Ben stumbled and fell, knocking his head on the toolbox and slipping into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He removed her cowl and goggles to study her face more closely. Her brown hair was tied up in three buns on her head, with thin tendrils of hair framing her face. Her clothes that he had mistaken for rags were perfect for the heat on Jakku; they would offer her protection from the sun. Freckles dusted her sun-kissed face, and again, Ben found his eyes drawn to her lips.
> 
> Kriff, she was cute. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: A man physically overpowers a women, not nefariously.

When Ben came to, the first things he noted were that he was still in possession of his blaster and that he wasn’t restrained himself. He probably hadn’t been unconscious for long, and perhaps the girl was still in her stun cuffs. Not that the restraints did much to stop her from gaining an advantage on him in the first place. 

He ran to the cockpit, fearing she had control of the _Falcon_. 

He had no way of telling whether they had changed their course, but he could tell from the lack of streaked stars in the cockpit’s windows the girl had already pulled the _Falcon_ out of hyperspace. 

The girl noticed Ben’s approach and lifted her cuffed wrists to her left shoulder, preparing herself to defend an attack. 

Ben reached down for the blaster at his side, a gift from his uncle Lando, and thumbed the switch to stun. He wouldn’t risk hurting her, not when he didn’t know what the ramifications for injuring her would be if he followed through and turned her in to the First Order. He had already kriffed up this job and it was time for damage control. 

Aiming the blaster at the girl, he stared at her fearful eyes. The girl’s lips parted as she breathed shakily. He needed to calm her down. If he could restrain her, he could talk things out and get more information and create a better plan.

Before he could figure out the restraining plan, the girl made a move to grab the blaster from his hands. She had a terrible tendency for interrupting his thoughts.

They grappled over the blaster for several agonizing seconds, but the girl was able to knock it out of Ben’s grip. The blaster slid under one of the consoles in the cockpit, effectively out of reach. The damn stun cuffs didn’t do enough to restrain the girl. She was a fighter and Ben recalled for the millionth time that the crate had been doing enough to contain her fury until he had freed her. 

She swung her bound fists at him repeatedly. The momentum and harsh edges of the stun cuffs hurt Ben’s arms with each block he made. He tried to remain on the defensive and not hurt the girl too much. This girl was a valuable asset, supposedly. 

The girl attempted to switch strategies and raised her wrists to strike him overhand, but Ben easily blocked her again. He was having a ridiculous time subduing the girl. He was much taller than she was, towering several inches over her. 

Ben opted to change strategies as well, since he had several advantages over the girl: height, width, and weight. As the girl drew her wrists back in preparation for another strike, he launched himself forward and wrapped his arms around her to restrain her. She screeched in his ear and turned herself away from him, momentarily grinding her bottom against his front in the process. 

He didn’t let the distraction throw him off and he pushed himself over and down on her smaller body until she buckled down from his weight. 

Now he was completely on top of her, pinning her thighs down with his thighs and her forearms with his forearms. Ben lifted his face from her cowl to check on his blaster’s position underneath the cockpit. The girl was writhing underneath him, attempting to reach the blaster, but it was safely just out of reach.

Now what was left to figure out was how he was going to actually detain the girl. He was uncomfortable holding a person down in this unseemly position, but he didn’t have any other choice in restraining her. Despite being in such a compromising position, the girl was still reaching for the blaster, her fingers frantically reaching for the weapon.

Suddenly, the blaster leaped into the girl’s hands, and it spurred him to lift his body off of hers in a desperate bid to get the blaster away from her. The girl took advantage of her newfound freedom and attempted to roll away from him with the blaster, but Ben pulled it from her hands and it fell to the floor again. They each scrambled to their feet and prepared to resume their hand-to-hand combat, or cuff-to-hand in the girl’s case. 

The girl let out another war cry and swung her fists upward at Ben, who swiftly blocked the attack again with his arm, but the stun cuffs had reached their limit from the repeated bludgeoning. The stun cuffs exploded on impact, shocking the two combatants. Ben yelped from the burst of pain and bounced backwards and stumbled against a console.

However, the girl received the brunt of the stunning shock and collapsed to the floor. She had been subdued at last. Ben’s arm hung by his side, all feeling in his arm was momentarily gone, but at least he wasn’t unconscious at the hands of a potential enemy again.

Now that there was finally a break in these events, he could blasting _think_ again. 

Ben stared at the girl in wonder. It was impressive how well she could fight after waking up from a sedative. 

But her ability to call the blaster to her hand was concerning. It had been years since Ben had witnessed someone able to manipulate objects the way she did. This girl was a Force user. 

He finally had an idea why the First Order might want her after all. 

He picked the girl up, her small body limp in his strong arms, and carried her to the lounge. He left her briefly to grab three pairs of stun cuffs and affixed them to her wrists and ankles. The last pair of stun cuffs he used to bind one of her feet to the table. He didn’t want to risk having to fight her again, especially not knowing how strong she was with the Force. He felt confident that he would outmatch her with his own Force abilities, but he wanted to draw upon the Force as little as possible. 

Keeping his abilities locked away was the best way to keep the whispers in his mind at bay.

Now that the girl was secured, Ben checked the navicomputer in the cockpit. The fuel gauge indicated the Falcon was nearly out of fuel. The damn fuel line was leaking again. He would have to repair it before going to his destination; Ord Mantell was too far away to reach with what fuel reserves he had left. However, Tatooine was nearby and the Falcon could limp there to refuel. It was a good planet to visit discreetly, especially because he was unsure what to do with the girl yet.

While he waited for her to awaken, Ben checked the girl for weapons and found none. At least Plutt had been competent enough to make sure the girl wasn’t armed with a blaster. The girl was deceptively strong, despite her slim stature. 

He removed her cowl and goggles to study her face more closely. Her brown hair was tied up in three buns on her head, with thin tendrils of hair framing her face. Her clothes that he had mistaken for rags were perfect for the heat on Jakku; they would offer her protection from the sun. Freckles dusted her sun-kissed face, and again, Ben found his eyes drawn to her lips.

Kriff, she was cute. 

Ben wasn’t often alone with beautiful women in his line of work. Not that he actively sought them out anyways, he was unwilling to make connections with anyone, even brief encounters would be more baggage than he was willing to carry. 

But for this girl, he felt _compassion_. He felt like he understood his mother’s sense of responsibility to protect others more than he did yesterday. He would be damning this girl if he fulfilled this job. Yet there were the consequences to consider for abandoning this job.

He recalled his father’s multiple retellings of what happened after he dropped a Hutt gangster’s load of spice after getting boarded by Imperials. When the Hutt finally got his hands on his father, he had been imprisoned in carbonite for several months until he was freed by Ben’s mother and uncle. 

Maybe talking to the girl would help him decide what to do. He paced the floor of the lounge, waiting for her to wake up. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, she stirred.

Ben sat across from her at the table, resting his laced fingers on the top. Once, he saw the recognition of her situation in her eyes, he began his interrogation.

“Who are you?” he commanded, invoking his lowest, most intimidating voice. 

As he should have predicted, the girl stared defiantly at him in response. 

Ben swallowed and closed his eyes. He was no good at these tactics. Maybe he should try a different approach. 

_Be gentle, Ben_ , he could hear his mother say. 

“My name is Ben Solo. You’re on the _Millennium Falcon_.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Ben.” 

Ice froze each word she spoke. She was clearly still angry about the whole captivity thing. 

“I’d offer to shake your hand, but I’m all tied up.” She gesticulated with her wrists.

“You attacked me. I can’t just let you go.”

“You manhandled me! I don’t even know what I’m doing on this ship!”

Ben sat in silence as he figured out how to approach the situation. She was young, and couldn’t be more than 18 or 19. She might be Force sensitive, but could she have really done anything to risk the wrath of the First Order? Was she just pretending to not know what was going on?

He opted to tell her about his contract.

“I was hired to deliver a ‘valuable asset’ to the First Order. I didn’t know I was transporting a sentient until you spoke. Why would the First Order want you?” 

“I have no idea! I’m just a scavenger from Jakku. I’m no one.”

“You’re really no threat to the First Order? Is there anyone important that you might have headbutted?”

The girl’s countenance changed. She looked apologetic. Almost.

“Not that I know of. I collect scrap and sell it for portions. Sometimes I get into disagreements over who found what first, but no one in the First Order to my knowledge.”

Everything she said sounded reasonable so far. Jakku was in the middle of nowhere, after all.

“Why did you stop the ship?” 

“I had to shut off the hyperdrive because the ship warned that we were out of fuel. We weren’t going to make it to the destination on the navicomputer. We’ll have to land.”

“Look, Miss ‘no one’-”

“Rey.”

“What?” 

“My name is Rey. Just Rey.”

“Look, Rey, I don’t deal with human or sentient cargo.” 

He tasted her name on his tongue for the first time and made his decision on what to do with the asset.

“I won’t deliver you to the First Order,” he vowed. 

_This is a stupid idea, Ben_ , he thought. 

He was risking his career and life on a pretty face. At the same time, he had to stick to his beliefs, it’s what his mother would have expected of him. 

“Thank you,” Rey said sincerely. 

Ben stood from his seat and warily undid the stun cuffs on her wrists and ankles. He sat back down, wondering if she would try to take advantage of him again. He probably shouldn’t trust her, but he had a gut feeling that she wouldn’t attack him anytime soon. 

“I’ll take you back to Jakku once I fuel up and get repairs at Tatooine. We’re already enroute and in the morning, I’ll go on planet and make the necessary purchases.” 

“Good. I have to go back as soon as we can. I am waiting for someone there and if I get back and they came while I was gone…”

He felt a twinge of jealousy followed by a longer blush of shame. Of course the beautiful girl would have a boyfriend or partner she was waiting for. 

He wasn’t doing this because she was an attractive - very attractive - girl, he told himself, he was doing this because it was the right thing to do.

Perhaps there were more right things to do. Maybe he needed to think about visiting home again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What Luke would say if he saw me using the Force like this…"
> 
> But he didn’t want to think about his uncle right now. He wanted to think about someone else instead. Instinctively, he closed his eyes and reached out with the Force again, and he felt her presence in the Force for the first time. Her Force signature shone like a beacon and he felt the Force hum gently to him when he sensed her. She felt right. Familiar.
> 
> He wanted her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are heating up now! 
> 
> Thanks so much to -name redacted- for being the greatest and fastest beta ever <3

It had been so long since Ben casually talked with someone that he didn’t realize how starved he was for conversation.

But maybe Rey was easy to talk to. 

After Ben promised Rey he would return her to Jakku, he went back to the cargo hold to continue working on the repairs. Without anything better to do, Rey followed him back to watch.

It wasn’t long until she was making suggestions on how he should proceed.

“You know you can fix the motivator if you use the Harris wrench instead, right?”

“Then why don’t you do it yourself?” 

He was irked. He’d been the captain of the _Millennium Falcon_ for six years now, he didn’t need someone telling him how to fix _his_ ship. He’d grown up on this ship, he knew everything about it and-

It worked. 

“How did you know that would work?”

“I learned I could get a better price for things I could repair. I’m used to working on starships that are barely holding together.”

Ben ignored the slight against the _Falcon_. She was better than any other ship out there.

“Do you know how to fly? You know how to pull the _Falcon_ out of hyperspace.”

“I’ve practiced on simulations, but I’ve never been able to leave Jakku. If I could, I’d be a pilot.”

“Well, you’re off Jakku now. You don’t have to go back there, I could drop you off somewhere else.”

_You could stay here if you wanted to._ _._

Steam burst forth from the motivator, distracting Ben from the intrusive thought. He braced himself with one hand against the siding as he gave a bolt another twist with the Harris wrench. He heard Rey rummaging through the toolbox and she surprised him by ducking under his arm. Her hips brushed against him for the second time that day and she stood between his arms, using a screwdriver. 

“I’ll, uh, give you some space.”

He stepped away from her and his arms fell uselessly to his side. He must look like a nerfherder to her. On the other hand, Rey was completely focused on her task. She started explaining what she was doing, speaking complete technobabble. Ben understood how to make repairs to the _Falcon_ , his father had taught him all the tricks he devised over the years, but he hadn’t tried to understand the why behind it.

Rey was more than happy to tell him about it, how each mechanism worked together like moving puzzle pieces. When he had questions, she answered them, making slight adjustments to knobs here and there, areas that Ben didn’t know needed to be fixed. It was endearing to watch her be so absorbed by her work.

She fixed the fuel line easily enough. There had been a hidden leak he had missed that Rey had diagnosed within five minutes of examining the issue. 

When the alert appeared that it was time to pull out of hyperspace, Ben reluctantly left Rey to make their descent onto Tatooine. He guided the _Falcon_ towards Anchorhead, the small town he planned to make his purchases from. His uncle had told him Anchorhead was a good middle-of-nowhere place to go when you didn’t want to be found. The planet was run by the Hutts and it would be easy to disappear from a place where so many were involved in shady dealings. Ben would visit in the morning, it was nearly time for him and Rey to sleep anyways. 

Once the _Falcon_ landed in a docking bay and he paid the dockmaster a fee for the night, Ben returned to Rey, finding her in the cargo hold. She rested against the crate she was formerly captive in. Sweat and grease shone from her skin. She looked like a proper mechanic after a long day of work.

“After the _Falcon_ gets some fuel, she’ll be good to go. I won’t have to fear for my safety on the return trip to Jakku.” 

She smiled wryly at him. Her infectious grin made his heart jump. 

“Thank you for all your work. If you want, you can use the refresher in my quarters. I’ll make us some dinner and you can sleep in the quarters on the other side of the ship.”

“That would be great, thank you.”

He directed her to his quarters and as he waited for her to wash herself, he grabbed some dinner for them. The rations weren’t anything fancy, but it was nutritious without having to put too much effort in. He heard her footsteps behind him just as he finished and he turned quickly to greet her.

“I’ve never had a hot shower before! All we have on Jakku are sonics!”

She was glowing brighter than Tatooine’s twin suns, her smile dazed him. Her chestnut hair was released from her buns and her wet hair rested slightly past her shoulders. He swallowed when he saw what she was wearing. She had taken the initiative to raid his closet of admittedly only black clothing and donned one of his long-sleeved shirts. The shirt was too big for her and hung off one of her shoulders. She wore her own leggings underneath and he guessed her other clothing was too covered in grease to wear to sleep. She looked so beautiful and-

_Worth the price the First Order is putting on my head._

“Here, I made us dinner,” he said lamely, unsure of what to say that wasn’t the words he was thinking. 

They ate the rations in silence. Rey seemed to be cheerful, in sharp contrast with Ben’s more pensive demeanor. It was hard to believe this girl was an unstoppable whirlwind of fury mere hours ago. Apparently, she could be won over with a ship to fix and a hot shower. Once they finished eating, she bid him good night and went to the spare quarters. Ben echoed her words and went to his quarters to get some rest before going on planet tomorrow. ‘

This was assuming he would be able to fall asleep without thinking about her.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rey’s face swam through his dreams, followed by the outline of the curves of her hips and the way those hips had moved against him. 

Ben woke up hard, his dreams about the girl - _woman_ , he corrected - were enough to make his cock ready for action. He felt groggy, and ready for more sleep, but he could probably relieve himself quickly and go back to bed. He slid his briefs off and went to work.

He summoned up the image of a faceless woman riding him backwards. It was a classic fantasy of his. His hand felt much too dry. He wanted to feel wetness and pretend it was her on him, but his lubricant was out of reach, stashed under his bunk with the pornographic holovids he had found after assuming captaincy of the _Falcon_ and relics from his younger days. 

Against his better judgement, he undid the latch on his abilities, much like he had undone the latch on Rey’s crate, and felt the warmth of the Force rushing back into him. The electricity it created in him made him grunt and squeeze his cock. 

He reached out with his mind, sensed the lubricant, and willed it into his free hand. It soared into his fist. After squeezing some of the lubricant onto his cock - cold, cold, cold - he picked up the pace; his cock slid smoothly in and out of his fist. 

_What Luke would say if he saw me using the Force like this…_

But he didn’t want to think about his uncle right now. He wanted to think about someone else instead. Instinctively, he closed his eyes and reached out with the Force again, and he felt her presence in the Force for the first time. Her Force signature shone like a beacon and he felt the Force hum gently to him when he sensed her. She felt right. Familiar.

He wanted her.

The faceless woman he imagined bouncing on his cock turned her head around, revealing Rey moaning in ecstasy. Even if she would be gone tomorrow, there was no harm in imagining things could be different, right?

What would it feel like to have her take him for the first time? To lose his virginity to her? Was she experienced? Maybe she knew how to make men shudder from a gentle touch of her small fingers. He wanted to know what it felt like to bury his fingers into her hair, to see if he could still smell the desert in its waves. 

Ben felt the weight on his mattress change and his eyes fluttered open. He hazily looked at the figure on his left and realized he must have fallen asleep, even as he was still stroking himself. He must have been having a particularly lucid dream.

Rey had invaded his sleep for the second time that night. 

Like him, she was laying on top of the sheets. And like him, she was touching herself, her hand moving frantically beneath her undergarments. 

This must be a dream. 

Dream-Rey was still wearing the last thing he saw her in, the long-sleeved shirt she’d borrowed. It had slid up past her hips and Ben got his first glimpse at those curves he had been envisioning. He didn’t dare touch her. He was sure she would vanish if he did so.

Rey bucked her hips upwards and moaned softly. She whispered a name.

“Ben.” 

He grunted in response and resumed stroking himself, his eyes roaming between her hand and her parted lips. His strokes made soft, slicking sounds from the lube. Rey’s eyes fluttered open at the sound and she turned her head towards him. They stopped their ministrations of themselves to hold each other’s gaze.

Their faces were mere inches apart. Ben wanted to close the gap and know what it was like to feel her lips on his. He needed to taste her. He moved his head forward slightly. Even in his dreams he was a coward. 

Rey moved her head forward as well, touching her forehead to his. He closed his eyes and savored the stillness of the moment. He resumed stroking his cock, and from the movement coming from Rey’s side of the bunk, he knew she was touching herself as well. Daring to get even closer, he nuzzled her nose with his and she sighed, pressing back against him.

Their shared breaths grew more ragged, until they were almost in sync with each other. His lips were dangerously close to hers. He should just move forward and kiss her already. 

“Touch me.”

Her whisper opened his eyes and lifted the hairs on the back of his neck. He pulled himself away from her and rose from the bed. Now standing, he had a much better view of her. She was still touching herself, pawing desperately beneath her underwear. 

He took a deep breath and reminded himself he was in a dream and he could be bolder, like those actors in the holovids under his bunk. 

“Take those off first.”

Rey pulled her hand away and carefully lifted her bottom to slide her underwear off. Ben knew he had unusual control over this dream, but he was going to take advantage of it. She spread her legs apart from him and her cunt was more beautiful than any he’d ever seen in a holovid. He wondered what it would be like to kiss these lips, too. 

“And the shirt,” he commanded, emboldened.

She tugged the shirt over her head, revealing her naked breasts underneath, small and perfect. He wanted to completely envelope her with his larger body and suck her nipples, but he opted to stroke himself more. Beads of precum leaked from the head of his cock at the sight of her.

Ben steeled his nerves and kneeled at the foot of the bunk. He ran his massive hands over her calves, marveling at how soft her skin was. He let himself move further up her body and moved her hands over the curve of her hips. He gently kissed the inside of her knee and looked up at her. He needed to know it was still okay for him to proceed.

“Touch me… here…”

His hand moved slowly up her thigh, getting closer to her vulva. With trepidation, he ran a finger across her slit before slipping it inside her cunt. Rey moaned from his entrance, and he looked up at her to see her gripping the edge of the bunk with both hands. He was overcome with the desire to please her, to make her moan even more. 

He wanted to serve her. 

His finger hadn’t gone all the way in, so he pulled his finger partway out before trying again. This time, his finger passed the resistance and he felt her cunt gripping his finger tightly. As he rhymically pumped his finger in her, he felt her relax more. One of her hands ventured down to rub her clitoris, and he pushed his face against her knee so he could smell her and take her in.

“More.”

He was hesitant to add another finger. It felt like she could hardly accommodate him already. He considered using lube, but she was already so wet that he didn’t think adding more would help. He slid another finger inside of her, and pumped his fingers harder while he stroked his cock in time with his thrusts. Her finger worked relentlessly against her clitoris.

He felt the excitement in him rise up. He was close to finishing, but he needed her to finish first. He wanted to see her climax before he found his. Suddenly, she proclaimed her orgasm and he was undone as well, shooting his cum over her stomach and pretty thighs.

He withdrew her fingers from her and marveled at the wetness she left on him. The urge to know what she tasted like overtook him, and he sucked her juices off his fingers. There was a slight tang to her and he tried to capture the memory of her taste so he could keep this part of the dream with him forever.

Rey was watching him, enraptured by what he had done. He took another look at her body, painted with his come, and rushed over to the refresher to grab a towel for her.

Even with dream sex, Ben still felt the need to keep things tidy. He wiped her stomach and thighs with the towel before tossing it in the corner of his quarters. 

“Sleep tight,” he finished awkwardly as he stood by the bunk. Normally, these dreams ended during the sex or immediately afterwards.

“Good night, Ben.” 

The vixen in his sheets smiled shyly at him before she vanished.

He fell forward on the bunk and felt the post-orgasm bliss. He buried his face into a pillow, hoping to chase the distant smell of her hair. A fleeting thought crossed his mind before he fell asleep. 

The sheets almost felt warm.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben woke the next morning to an empty ship and reasoned Rey was still sleeping, her Force signature was pulsing faintly in the quarters she was using. He chided himself for leaving himself exposed overnight; it had been a foolish move to risk the invader coming back to his head for the chance to masturabate more pleasurably. It had taken him several hours of concentrated meditation to remove himself from the Force, and he wouldn’t have the time to lock his abilities again until he dropped Rey off on Jakku.

After getting dressed and holstering his blaster, he left the ship to find a fuel vendor. There was no need to talk to Rey this morning about his trip. While she had made repairs last night, they agreed she would not leave the _Falcon_. If she was important enough to have her capture contracted by the First Order, she might be recognizable to others. 

He entered the marketplace of Anchorhead and located a fuel vendor. He successfully negotiated the price down and directed the vendor to the _Falcon_. It was a good thing the merchant didn’t know how stranded he was; he could have easily driven up the price. With his mission accomplished, he dawdled on his way back to the ship, seeing if other vendors had anything interesting. 

Maybe he could buy Rey a gift...

“You’re back early.”

Ben turned around and saw Rey looking at him. The oversized shirt she wore was hanging off one shoulder and he swallowed, remembering his dream the night before. 

“You’re supposed to be on the ship.”

“I _am_ on the ship.” She waved a wrench at him. “We’re both on the ship.”

“I’m in Anchorhead. In the marketplace. Can you see what I see?” There were so many bright and colorful things around him he could show her.

“What? No. I don’t understand.” 

“I’m coming back. We’ll figure this out. Just, just stay there.”

Unsure of what to do next, he turned away from her and walked back to the _Falcon_ hurriedly. When he looked over his shoulder, Rey was gone.

\------------------------------------------------------------------

After the fuel finished pumping, they would be on their way back to Jakku. 

And they would part. 

Their short adventure together was almost at an end. He probably would never solve this mystery. It was probably connected to the Force, like all mysteries were, and the less he paid mind to this unusual ability, the better. He could go back to his life where people didn’t appear in or vanish from places unexpectedly.

Suddenly, Ben’s breath hitched in his lungs. Rey was able to appear in places without actually being there. Rey was able to appear in-

“Oh, _fuck._ ”

It dawned on him that the crystal clear dream he had last night was probably _not_ a dream. 

He scrambled his way up the ramp of the _Falcon_ , nearly bumping into Rey. She stood near the entrance with her arms folded expectantly. 

“You disappeared into thin air.”

“Rey, we need to talk.” 

“We certainly do. Who do you think you are appearing out of nowhere?” 

“Rey… Have you ever heard of the Force?”

She looked at him like he had sprouted lekku. He guessed that meant she wasn’t trained in the Force and her abilities were probably new to or even unknown to her.

“It sounds vaguely familiar. Not much gets to Jakku.”

“It’s like a current that moves through everything in the galaxy. Plants, animals, sentients, the Force is in all of us.”

“I think I’ve heard something like that… But what does it have to do with anything?”

“Some people have the ability to manipulate the Force, and use it, like the Jedi are able to do. Great things can be done with it, like moving objects and influencing others. It’s why you appeared to me in the marketplace. I saw you standing there even when you weren’t.”

“Are you seriously suggesting I can use the Force?”

“You used it yesterday when we were fighting. You called my blaster into your hand.”

“We bumped into it. You were on top of me and we were moving so much…”

Why didn’t she understand that she might have this power? It would be unwise to take Rey back to Jakku without knowing the extent of her power. It’s probably why the First Order sought her out. She should at least know what she’s capable of so she could protect herself.

“Let me try something.”

Ben reached forward and took her hands into his own and then gazed into her eyes. Eyes that were apprehensive and wary. He took a deep breath and for the first time in years, fully opened himself to the Force. The Force tumbled into him, like a river bursting through a damn. He felt it coursing through his body and despite his efforts to seclude himself from it, knew that it had never been held back completely, only muted to a thin trickle. 

As he looked into Rey’s eyes, he felt it flowing out of him into her. She sent the current back to him, filtered and pure. She gasped at the sensation, but she didn’t break eye contact between them.

“Don’t be afraid. I feel it, too.” 

The Force hummed between them, throbbing where he clasped her hands. This connection between them just felt so right. He felt a completeness and serenity he never felt in his life before. 

But Rey looked panicked. She pulled her hands away and fled to her quarters. He’d overstepped. He should have explained more to her. He should have told her about his training and warned her what the awakening could feel like. He had been young when it came to him, but older students that came to Luke’s academy had told stories of how overwhelming their first experience of knowing they could feel the Force had been.

Ben returned to his quarters to investigate whether Rey had really been in his room last night. If she had been there, he knew what evidence he would find that would confirm his suspecisions. The towel he used to clean them off was crumbled in the corner. He brought it to his nose and inhaled.

It smelled like sex. The scent of her juices mingled with his come triggered his erection and he groaned in frustration.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I don’t want to be trained. I have to go home. If they come for me and I’m not there…”
> 
> “I understand. But we can figure this out, right?” he suggested hopefully. Be with me. Another intrusive thought.
> 
> Rey thought about it for a minute, biting her lip as she pondered. Her freckled nose was wrinkled in concentration. How hadn’t he noticed she had freckles before? Her worry filled him again, followed by reluctance. 
> 
> “I’ll do it. I’ll go with you. But then you have to take me back to Jakku.”

Ben took advantage of the _Falcon_ refueling to meditate. He needed to dam the flow of the Force in him; he had been lucky enough that no uninvited voices spoke to him this time. Yet, he couldn’t concentrate enough to complete his task. He felt unusually distressed, but this was likely residual guilt seeping through.

His whole life, he had known the Force existed. It used to be a constant presence in his life. Some cultures viewed the Force as something magical, and he probably uprooted Rey’s whole worldview by showing her that she had powers some considered godly. 

Unable to get out of his thoughts, Ben figured he had given Rey enough time to somewhat adjust to this new knowledge, so he went to her temporary quarters to see how she was doing. The distressed feeling in him swelled, but it felt unusual, almost like he was experiencing anxiety that belonged to a stranger. 

Ben knocked lightly on the door, not intending to startle her. The distressed feeling spiked at his knock, and then settled down.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and walked into the room. The temporary quarters were sparse because he traveled alone except for the odd times someone needed to be taken discreetly offworld. Rey sat cross-legged on the bed, rumpled blankets around her. She sniffed and looked up at him with those pretty eyes and when he met her gaze, he felt a gentle jolt of electricity between them.

There was some strange connection between them that he had never felt with another Force-user. Maybe it was time to go back to his uncle’s Jedi academy. He might have some insight on this situation. There were no other Force-users he could turn to. As far as anyone in the New Republic knew, Luke Skywalker was the most experienced Force-user left in the galaxy after the Jedi Purge fifty years prior. 

Not that he knew where Luke even was. If Rey agreed with his plan, she would have to stick around for a while...

“Rey.”

He swallowed nervously. Was the look in her eyes always this intense?

“You can’t go back to Jakku. The First Order hired me to bring you to them. They _will_ find you again and hire someone else to take you to them if they don’t come for you themselves.” 

“I have to go home, Ben.” Her saying his name filled his stomach with carrier butterflies, like the ones he had freed with his father and Uncle Chewie when he was a small child.

“I understand, but you have this ability within you. You need a teacher.”

_I could be your teacher_ , flitted into his mind, but Ben dismissed the thought. He couldn’t, not when he had feelings like this. He had never attained knighthood anyways. 

“Luke Skywalker. He runs an academy where he teaches Jedi, so he might be able to figure out… what is happening between us.” 

“ _Luke Skywalker?_ I thought he was a myth.” 

The unacknowledgement of their connection stung Ben. Maybe she didn’t feel the same way he did, maybe it was all one-sided. But it couldn’t be, she had been able to see him on the ship just as clearly as he had seen her in the marketplace. 

“He might not accept you for training but-”

“I don’t want to be trained. I have to go home. If they come for me and I’m not there…”

“I understand. But we can figure this out, right?” he suggested hopefully. _Be with me_. Another intrusive thought.

Rey thought about it for a minute, biting her lip as she pondered. Her freckled nose was wrinkled in concentration. How hadn’t he noticed she had freckles before? Her worry filled him again, followed by reluctance. 

“I’ll do it. I’ll go with you. But then you have to take me back to Jakku.”

Before he could stop himself, Ben asked her something that had bothered him since she first expressed an urgent need to go to Jakku. 

“Who are you waiting for?”

_Is there a man you love?_ he added silently.

Rey stared at the edge of the bed she sat on. She was hesitant to share, like she had to protect whoever she was hiding.

“My parents, they’re the only family I know of. They had to leave, but they will come back soon and it’s very important I’m there when they come back.” 

That explained why she was so eager to go back home. Unlike him, others actually wanted to be around their family and not several systems apart.

“Can you meet them at your home? When was the last time you saw them?”

“Fifteen years ago.”

She raised her head, looking up at him defiantly. She was challenging him, daring him to tell her the same thing others must have told her so many times over the years.

_Your family is gone, and they aren’t coming back_.

“Once we find Luke Skywalker, I will take you back to Jakku so you can keep waiting for your family.” 

“Good.”

“I have some people to talk to, but then we’ll take off. Are you okay here?”

“Yes, I… I’ll take a look at the _Falcon_ ’s hyperspace system. If the First Order is looking for me, I’d hate to be unable to jump to hyperspace because of a poor motivator.”

“Sounds good.”

Ben left Rey’s room and headed towards the cockpit. He had a few calls to make.

\-------------------------------------------------------

“So what did you think would happen when I found out the cargo was not only a living being, but a sentient?”

“That you would complete the job as instructed and be paid generously for it.” 

“Asshole,” Ben swore under his breath at the red-haired man on the holoprojector. Like him, Armitage Hux had rejected carrying the weight of the family legacy to make his own way in the galaxy. Just as Ben turned away from a life as a Jedi Knight, Hux had fled his First Order general father’s thumb to distribute underworld smuggling contracts. 

Hux did have a talent for securing lucrative contracts, but wouldn’t always disclose information he deemed unnecessary, which had landed Ben into several hairy situations. The First Order defector would always brush off Ben’s complaints, reassuring him that he knew Ben could handle any job he threw at him.

But this job crossed a line, even if the cargo’s content was not an attractive woman.

“You know I draw the line at slavery and kidnapping.”

“She’s a prisoner. You have done prisoner transports before, Solo.”

“Usually they’ve been _tried_ first and not trapped in a small box.”

“Sure, whatever.” Hux waved his hand dismissively. “Once the First Order sends me payment, I’ll distribute your cut to you. I have some spice for you to run to Coruscant. Their scanning technology has improved since your last-”

“I haven’t turned her in. She’s still with me. Free.”

The interruption cut Hux’s monologue short. He probably shouldn’t have told Hux this, but he knew the man wouldn’t betray him. Their business relationship was far too profitable to sever it completely. Hux knew he was one of the best smugglers out there and this let Ben get away with more than others.”

“ _Are you mad?_ If the First Order finds out she’s not enroute-”

Ben interrupted Hux again. “They won’t find out. She’s just one person and shipments get lost all the time. We can claim that there was nothing in the crate. You’re the creative one, you’ll think of something.” 

“Solo, this should not fall upon me to solve! She’s clearly a prized bounty.”

“I’m not a bounty hunter.”

As Hux continued to protest, Ben grabbed the dice hanging above him and started to toss them casually from one hand to the other. He wouldn’t turn on Rey. If he did, he’d never see her again. 

_And I promised her freedom._

“The dossier on her is massive!”

_This_ was more interesting than Hux’s other ramblings. Ben cut to the chase.

“Any living relations?”

Hux blinked at the question, but provided the information anyway. 

“No known family is alive. Her parents are deceased. They probably got on the wrong side of the First Order when they first started expanding.”

Ben maintained a stoic facial expression even as satisfaction and hope that she might stay with him bloomed in his chest. There was no reason for Rey to go back to Jakku. She was waiting for no one. The feeling was quickly kneaded down by guilt and concern for her reaction when she found her parents were gone. He may not have been close to his family anymore, but he still couldn’t bear the thought of stumbling upon the deaths of any of them. 

“Thanks, Hux. Don’t call me, I’ll call you.”

Hux’s face was as red as his hair at Ben’s dismissal. He opened his mouth to retort, but Ben quickly disconnected the call. 

Speaking of family members, there was only one that he felt comfortable enough to reach out to, his aunt. Her palace on Takodana was often his refuge when he needed to lay low. He had fled to her after he commandeered the _Falcon_ and she had welcomed him with open arms and few questions. He didn’t know if she had told his family about how frequently they were in contact, but in six years he had yet to be ambushed by them so she was either keeping quiet or they were maintaining their distance. Both were fine by him.

Yet it was because of his family he was contacting her today. The most recent codes to reach the Jedi academy that were in his possession were several years old, and likely out of date. The speakers on the cockpit console crackled to life as his aunt’s familiar goggles and small frame appeared on the holoprojector.

“Ben? To what do I owe the pleasure of speaking to you?”

A rare grin spread on Ben’s face. He may have kept his distance from others, but his aunt’s natural cheeriness was infectious.

“Hello, Maz. I need to get in contact with Luke at the Jedi academy. Can you transmit the codes to me? Mine are old.”

The cheer left Maz’s face. She adjusted her goggles nervously before addressing Ben again.

“Are you still not in contact with your family?”

“It’s been a while since we talked, but no, we’re not speaking.” 

“You need to come to Takodana now. We should talk in person.”

“Maz, what’s wrong?” His breath hitched in his chest. 

“Luke’s academy has been destroyed. He’s safe, but we have to be careful. Come to my palace and I’ll tell you more.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey looked shaken, in her hands was a familiar looking hunk of metal. A lightsaber.
> 
> “Rey? Where did you get that?” 
> 
> She licked her lips before speaking. “I… found it. And Maz let me keep it.” 
> 
> “Lightsabers are rare, Rey. They aren’t just laying around.”

Takodana was by far one of the loveliest planets in the galaxy. The planet lay in the Mid Rim, and was covered with lush forests and hundreds of small lakes. It was a familiar planet to Ben, he had traveled to Maz Kanata’s castle dozens of times during his smuggling career, and he guided the  _ Falcon _ to his preferred landing zone, a lake shaped like the astromech droid that frequently accompanied his uncle Luke. R2-D2 was the droid’s name, he recalled correctly. 

  
  


He briefly wondered if Rey, being mechanically-inclined, was fond of droids. He never really understood the appeal of the friendships people formed with droids, not that he really understood the appeal of friendship in the first place. Maybe he could figure out the whole friendship thing with Rey.

  
  


_ Maybe you can be more than friends _ .

  
  


Ben pushed the intrusive thought out of his mind. 

  
  


Some of the tension from their unexpected connection through the Force had eased. By unspoken agreement, neither opened up the discussion about the encounter that had transpired between them the night before.

  
  


Rey had joined him in the cockpit as they shot through hyperspace, and they passed the time together. She spoke about the wrecks she had scavenged on Jakku and he told her about some of his more exciting smuggling jobs, although he didn’t mention the ones he completed for the First Order.

  
  


Ben even relaxed enough to let her pull them out from hyperspace. Her smile when she successfully completed her task was magnificent, and Ben resolved to let Rey fly the  _ Falcon _ more often if it meant he could see her beam more. When they stood from their seats so Ben could make the final descent onto Takodana, Rey excitedly wrapped her arms behind his back, pulling him into a hug. 

  
  


“Thank you for letting me try that, I’ve always wanted to do that.”

  
  


He quickly returned her hug and pulled away, allowing himself to smile back at her.

  
  


“I’m glad you enjoyed it. You can fly us out of here later if you’d like.”

  
  


Her smile grew even brighter. “I would love the chance.”

  
  


As they took their new seats, they stopped speaking as the  _ Falcon  _ soared towards the planet’s surface. Landing the  _ Falcon _ was the easy part of this mission; somehow, he’d have to summon up the courage to actually reach out to Luke. He wondered if Luke and the other Jedi from the now-destroyed academy were safe. The academy’s existence wasn’t a secret, but the location was. There were still too many enemies to the Jedi in the galaxy, and not enough Jedi fully trained to combat the threat.

  
  


Ben could sense Rey’s excitement increasing as the green of the planet rushed up to meet them. Grinning, he flew the  _ Falcon _ in a few swooping maneuvers to show off, just a little, and Rey laughed in delight. She hadn’t been able to leave the ship on their brief detour to Tatooine, so Takodana would be her first true off-world experience. 

  
  


When they left the  _ Falcon _ , Ben lingered behind as Rey beelined for the shore of the lake they landed by. He watched as she stood on the rocks and felt a new emotion emanating from her, disbelief. Cautiously, he walked up behind her, letting his boots crunch loudly in the rocks so she could hear his presence, if she didn’t sense it already. 

  
  


“I’ve never seen so much green. Or water.” 

  
  


“I take it you’ve never been swimming either.”

  
  


“Never. I would drown.”

  
  


“Maybe I could show you how.”

  
  


“We don’t have time, Ben. I have to be back on Jakku as soon as possible.”

  
  


Ben frowned. He hadn’t told Rey that she was waiting for no one on Jakku. Her parents were gone and would never come back. He would have to tell her soon, and certainly before taking her back to Jakku. Yet Ben wasn’t sure if Rey would even believe him if he told her. 

  
  


“Then let’s head to Maz’s.” 

  
  


Rey nodded her head in agreement and the pair set off towards the looming castle in the distance. The trek wasn’t too strenuous, and Ben welcomed the chance to stretch his legs after sitting for so long. He thought of the “exercise” he got when he fought with Rey at their first meeting. She clearly knew some things about fighting, and her stories about her scavenging expeditions on Jakku suggested that she had to tussle with competitors from time to time. 

  
  


Perhaps they could spar together sometime. One of the things he missed most from his days at the Jedi academy were his fellow students to train with. He was long out of practice with a lightsaber, but he’d welcome the opportunity to get better at his hand-to-hand skills. It would be a better test of their abilities to spar when one of them wasn’t concussed and the other wasn’t drugged. 

  
  


They arrived at Maz’s castle, pausing at the entrance. Rey tilted her head back and stared up at the towering, dark building. Ben recalled the lack of tall buildings on Jakku; perhaps the structure was intimidating. 

  
  


“Maz is friendly. She’s a family friend. And a pirate queen.”

  
  


“Pirate queen? I thought we were going to her bar.”

  
  


“That’s also correct. Stay close to me.” 

  
  


Ben walked into the castle and Rey followed him closely, he noted. Inside the castle were a multitude of patrons from different species. He navigated himself and Rey between tables. No one paid any attention to the two humanoids. No one except for Maz, that was.

  
  


“Ben Solo!”

  
  


Out of nowhere, Maz Kanata appeared, holding her arms open wide for Ben to embrace her. He did so, kneeling down for the smaller alien, and she clasped his face with her hands, staring at him with her goggle-magnified eyes. 

  
  


“Oh, how I missed you my child! There is so much that has happened since I saw you last. Come with me, to the back room.”

  
  


Ben and Rey followed her, the twists and turns she took were not as easy for their taller bodies. Finally, they made their way through the crowd into the room Maz had mentioned, and Ben closed the door behind them, locking it. 

  
  


“What did I miss Maz?”

  
  


Maz’s joyful face took on a more serious tone. “I know you’re familiar with the First Order, Ben. Their expansion has gotten out of control. Things are almost as bad now as they were under the Galactic Empire.”

  
  


“There’s always some Empire to fight, but the New Republic should handle it just fine,” Ben retorted.

  
  


“Your mother has very little support in the New Republic for fighting the First Order. Many senators are too intimidating or too cowardly to take a stand.”

  
  


“What did she do, start another rebellion.”

  
  


“Yes,” Maz responded, matter-of-factly.

  
  


“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  
  


“Your parents have founded a new rebellion, they’re calling this one ‘The Resistance.’ They could use someone with their talents.”

  
  


“You mean, they could  _ use _ their son. No thanks, I don’t need to be involved in politics. What does this have to do with Luke? You said his academy was destroyed.”

  
  


“I’m sorry you had to come out here, but I couldn’t risk telling you more details unless it was in-person. I have news about your uncle Luke.”

  
  


“Uncle?” Rey mouthed. Ben felt a small twinge of guilt that he hadn’t told Rey his history with Luke. It was too hard to talk about sometimes, despite how long it had been since he trained at the academy. 

  
  


“I’m sorry, Ben, but I cannot say more with the present company, the risk is far too great.” 

  
  


Rey looked disappointed, but understanding about being dismissed. Ben apologized, and unlocked the door for Rey to leave, before turning his attention back to Maz. He was feeling overwhelmed by the information. He couldn’t believe that his parents were at war again. Ben had grown up listening to the stories his parents told him about the rebellion against the empire they had taken part in. His parents had even met when his dad had rescued his mom from an imperial space station. 

  
  


“What can you tell me about Luke?”

  
  


“Luke’s academy was destroyed. He and his students are safe, but unofficially, with the Resistance.”

  
  


“I understand. Do you know anything else?”

  
  


“Why don’t you tell me who the girl is first? You’re not known for traveling with company. Is she your girlfriend?”

  
  


“Maz, that’s not important right now-”

  
  


“Ah, so you’re interested in her and she doesn’t know yet!”

  
  


“Maz!”

  
  


The pirate queen looked up at him pointedly. Ben sighed and ruffled his hair, exasperated.

  
  


“Fine. I was supposed to make a delivery to the First Order, no questions asked, but Rey was inside. I thought… I thought they might hurt her.”

  
  


“A First Order prisoner? Do they know you’ve freed her?”

  
  


“Not yet. We’ll leave soon, no worries. We just need to talk to Luke. Something weird happened.”

  
  


“Ah, yes, the Force connects the two of you. I can see it quite clearly.”

  
  


Ben blinked. He had thought about asking Luke about the connection between him and Rey, but maybe Maz was an easier source of information that didn’t rely on him reconnecting with his family.

  
  


“Can you tell me what this means? I don’t understand it.”

  
  


“Luke can explain it easier than I can.”

  
  


“But Luke isn’t here.”

  
  


“He fled with his students. Your parents can tell you all the details soon; they will be here in a few hours.”

  
  


“I would really rather not see them, Maz.”

  
  


“I’m sorry, Ben. The Force guided me to tell them you were coming here. It is time for you to meet your destiny.”

  
  


“I’m tired of having my fate decided for me!”

  
  


Ben turned on his heel and exited the room, slamming the door behind him. He scanned the crowded bar for a glimpse of Rey. He couldn’t find her, even with her distinct hair and out-of-place desert clothing. Ben couldn’t even sense her emotions through their connection and worry gripped him, followed by panic. 

  
  


He paced the halls of Maz’s castle, searching for Rey. Eventually, he felt a small spark inside of him ignite. Rey. Ben let his feelings guide him to the source of the spark, the way Luke had instructed him to. As he got closer and closer to her, the spark increased to a crackle, and then a sudden jolt struck him when he spotted the women with three buns at the end of a hallway. He called her name and ran towards her, and upon getting closer, noticed that Rey looked similarly electrified. 

  
  


“Is everything okay? You disappeared.”

  
  


Rey looked shaken, in her hands was a familiar looking hunk of metal. A lightsaber.

  
  


“Rey? Where did you get that?” 

  
  


She licked her lips before speaking. “I… found it. And Maz let me keep it.” 

  
  


“Lightsabers are rare, Rey. They aren’t just laying around.”

  
  


“It called to me. While you were talking with Maz, I heard a voice. It sounded just like my parents, so I followed the voices and it took me deeper into the castle, deep into these catacombs. And the voices told me to open this chest and this was in there.”

  
  


“Did anything else happen?”

  
  


“When I touched it, it gave me  _ visions _ , Ben. Terrifying visions.”

  
  


“It’s okay, Rey. It’s all over now.”

  
  


He wanted to hold her close and tell her these reassurances, but he didn’t dare risk her pushing him away.

  
  


“I saw the moment my parents left me on Jakku. I saw a Jedi with an astromech. And a burning temple.”

  
  


_ That must be Luke and his droid at the academy… _

  
  


“The last thing I saw was you, Ben. Or rather  _ us _ . We were fighting side-by-side against some… darkness. We were using, well, lightsabers. It was like  _ we  _ were Jedi.”

  
  


Ben knew how prophetic visions could be, especially in Force-sensitives like Rey. It seemed like the Force was pushing him to utilize his Jedi training again, despite his resistance to it. But lightsabers didn’t just appear out of nowhere. This one must have belonged to a Jedi, perhaps its owner fell in the Jedi Purge over fifty years ago. 

  
  


“Did Maz tell you more about this lightsaber? Do you know whose it was?”

  
  


“Maz told me it was Luke Skywalker’s! The myth himself!”

  
  


Ben was used to the awe his uncle inspired. Sure, Luke, along with Ben’s mother and father, were instrumental in the downfall of the Galactic Empire, but he was still a man with flaws. Ben hadn’t expected special treatment during his Jedi training from being Luke’s nephew, but Luke demanded even more from Ben than the other students. 

  
  


“He’s not so great.”

  
  


“Do you know him?” Rey studied his face quizzically. “You said he was your uncle?” 

  
  


She looked over her shoulder and then over his. No one was around, but she lowered her voice anyways. 

  
  


“Are you a Jedi, too? I know you can use the Force already, I’ve felt it. My vision showed you fighting next to me with a lightsaber. Only Jedi use lightsabers.”

  
  


Ben kept his face stoic as during Rey’s bombardment. He also had visions, but he locked the Force part of himself away to block out the voice that accompanied these visions. He was terrified of what would happen if he listened to the voice that had started speaking to him while he trained at Luke’s academy.

  
  


The voice had told him that no one understood him there. That he was destined for greatness and held power even greater than  _ Luke Skywalker _ . The voice promised him a legacy to rival Darth Vader, his mother and uncle’s father and Ben’s grandfather. Out of fear of falling to the dark side, he abandoned the Force completely.

  
  


Despite Rey’s vision, he knew he would never be able to fight with her against the darkness.

  
  


He was too much of a coward. 

  
  


But he at least owed Rey some responses after dragging her across the galaxy, and from keeping the truth of her parents from her. 

  
  


“When I was a kid, my parents found that I was strong with the Force and then sent me to train with my uncle, Luke, to be a Jedi. But I never finished my training, so no, I’m not a Jedi.”

  
  


“Why did you stop? What happened to your lightsaber?”

  
  


“It’s… hidden.”

  
  


_ Under my bunk. _

  
  


“Can you get it if you need it?”

  
  


“It’s no match for a good blaster at your side.” By the Maker, he was becoming his father. “Do you have any weapons proficiency? You put up a good fight when we first met.”

  
  


Rey smiled sadly at him. “I had a staff, but it was taken from me when I was captured on Jakku. I’ll get it back when I return.”

  
  


“Can you use a blaster? It’s always good to have one of those.”

  
  


“Never had a need for one. A staff is enough to protect myself.”

  
  


“You’re not on Jakku anymore. Let me show you the basics. We have time to kill anyways.”

  
  


They spent the next hour by the  _ Falcon  _ and the lake, firing at some improvised targets made from various scrap laying around the ship. Rey was a natural. At first, she struggled with flinching with each trigger pull, but she adapted quite easily and was soon hitting more targets and missing less. The lightsaber she discovered bounced on her belt as she jumped victoriously in the air after a particularly well-placed shot.

  
  


“That’s better than those stormtroopers we used to fight, don’t you think, Han?” 

  
  


_ Mom _ .

  
  


Ben turned around from Rey, who he admittedly couldn’t take his eyes off anymore, and looked at his parents for the first time in six years. Chewbacca accompanied them; the Wookie towered over the pair, greeting Ben with a friendly growl. 

  
  


His mother, Leia Organa-Solo, looked so  _ tired _ . She held her shoulders high, as regal as ever, but there were more circles under her eyes, and she swapped her senator’s robes for more practical clothing that allowed her to move more freely, or run. Leia always threw herself into her work, ten times more dedicated to her causes as anyone else around her. 

  
  


His father, Han Solo, looked nearly the same as he always did, with his silvery hair and grumpy scowl, which was directed towards Ben. Han pointed angrily at the  _ Falcon _ . Ben had hoped he’d been able to sense his mother’s presence in the Force and prepare for the inevitable fallout from meeting his parents again, but he had been so distracted with teaching Rey that he hadn’t had a chance to talk to her about it.

  
  


So be it.

  
  


“You stole my ship!”

  
  


“You sold the  _ Resolution _ ! You stole  _ my  _ ship!”

  
  


Ben felt his blood rupture as it always did during his screaming matches with his father. It had been so long since they had seen each other, but they naturally fell back into their old dynamic. A feuding son and father, how cliche. 

  
  


“It was the only way to stop you from working for the wrong guys!”

  
  


“You only made it easier, Dad. Your ship is much better equipped for smuggling. I’ve completed loads of contracts!”

  
  


“You’re going to get in too deep one day, Ben. The First Order, the Hutts… You may think you’re hot shit, but you’re disposable to them.”

  
  


“I know what I’m doing. I’ve been doing this for most of my kriffing life. If you didn’t want me to smuggle, you shouldn’t have taught me!” 

  
  


He sensed Rey’s growing discomfort with their explosive feud. He didn’t want her to see this side of him. His father had no response to his latest outburst; his lips were shut into a tight line. Attempting to calm himself down, Ben closed his eyes and willed his fists and his jaw to unclench. He didn’t want to fight anymore, he just wanted to be free to live his life. He just wanted his parents to understand his choices.

  
  


“I need to make a living, Dad. I’m  _ good _ at this.”

  
  


“Ben, you had the opportunity to be a  _ great _ Jedi.”

  
  


He wasn’t expecting his mother to interject. He felt the anger return and a spark inside of him ignited and exploded. 

  
  


“But it wasn’t what I wanted! No one has ever asked me what I wanted. I didn’t ask to be able to use the Force!”

  
  


_ I didn’t ask to hear the voices in my head, or the call to the dark _ , Ben thought bitterly, as hot tears swam in his eyes.

  
  


“You know, Dad. Most fathers would be grateful if their sons followed in their footsteps.”

  
  


An awkward silence hung between the five of them. Ben was acutely aware that Rey was still there, listening and witnessing. At least he had told her about his past as a Jedi-in-training, even if he hadn’t disclosed the circumstances of him leaving it. Not that his parents knew the full truth anyways. 

  
  


“So Ben, is this the girl Maz told us about?”

  
  


Great. Now his mother’s attention was on Rey. He fervently hoped that she wouldn’t scare Rey off; it would be just like her to-

  
  


“I’m Rey.”

  
  


Right, introductions were a completely normal thing to do, right now. He introduced Rey to his parents and uncle.

  
  


“I understand that you can feel the Force, Rey, and that it’s connected you to Ben. And my brother, too, it seems.”

  
  


“What do you mean?” Rey looked puzzled and Ben also wondered what Rey’s connection to Luke could possibly be. 

  
  


“That’s his lightsaber clipped onto your belt. It belonged to our father.”

  
  


His grandfather’s saber? Ben had heard stories about his uncle’s first lightsaber. Luke often reminisced about the day he lost it on Bespin; it was one of the few belongings he ever had from his father, even if he hadn’t known it until after he lost it. 

  
  


“What happened to Luke, Mom?” 

  
  


_ And why are you three here? I wasn’t ready to see you again. _

  
  


“Snoke, the leader of the First Order, has set a bounty on all Jedi.”

  
  


Dread suddenly coursed deep into Ben. He thought about the friends he left behind at the academy, Voe, Hennix, Tai… Were they alright? 

  
  


Leia seemed to notice Ben’s panic, she touched his shoulder gently, the first time he had been touched by his mother in  _ years _ , and he felt the urge to envelope his mother in a hug and seek comfort from her again like he had as a child. 

  
  


“The First Order hasn’t found them yet. They went into hiding a couple months ago and Luke left a map for us to go find him when the time is right. Our best pilot, Poe Dameron, is retrieving them right now.”

  
  


“Why is the time right now?” Rey asked.

  
  


“Because the war against the First Order is starting.” 

  
  


Leia stepped back and stared intensely at first Ben’s, and then Rey’s face. 

  
  


“We need more soldiers like you in the Resistance. Will you join us in our stand?”

  
  


Ben stared at his mother in disbelief. He hadn’t seen his parents in six years and when they finally met again it was for  _ recruitment _ ?

  
  


“The First Order has already taken over several systems. They won’t stop until the galaxy is under control. And Snoke won’t stop until every last Jedi is dead. And that includes you, Ben.”

  
  


“I can take care of myself. That’s all any of us should do now.”

  
  


His mother looked at him disappointedly.  _ I raised you better than that _ , he could hear her say in his head. She would undoubtedly want him to use his Force abilities, but he would risk opening himself the whispers again. The whispers that wanted him to do dark, terrible things.

  
  
  


Thankfully, he hadn’t heard the whispers in his head since he opened himself to the Force again. Perhaps the owner of the whispers had disappeared since he was last a Jedi and was no longer a threat. 

  
  


“I want to join but…” Rey bit her lip as she considered a way to politely decline his mother’s invitation. “But I need to return home to wait for somebody.” 

  
  


Leia, Han, and even Chewbacca looked at Rey skeptically. Finally, Leia sighed, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

  
  


“I see there’s no convincing either of you. Ben, I hope we can see you more. At least come see us for next Life Day?”

  
  


“I’m not sure I can do that, yet.” 

  
  


“I expect the  _ Falcon _ back too, kid.”

  
  


“I know, Dad.”

  
  


The group awkwardly drifted apart and Ben and Rey made their way back into the  _ Falcon.  _ They would sleep for the night, and return to Jakku in the morning.

  
  


The pair ate their rations solemnly; there would be no easy conversation tonight, unlike the night before. Tomorrow, he would have to take Rey to Jakku, where she would resume waiting for nobody. It was time for Ben to tell her the truth he discovered from Hux. 

  
  


“Rey? I have something to tell you. It’s about your parents.”

  
  


The scavenger put down her spoon and looked at the Jedi-turned-smuggler apprehensively. She bit her upper lip nervously and Ben knew there was no way to soften the blow. He had to come out with it.

  
  


“Your parents are dead. They were killed by the First Order.”

  
  


Tears dripped down Rey’s face as the air around them began to pulse. The lounge they were eating in was filled with the palpitations of the Force. She was much stronger than most of the new apprentices Ben met at the academy. If Luke had found her, she would already be a Knight by now. 

  
  


Cups and bowls lifted from the table and Rey slammed her fists down in rage. A bowl exploded on the wall, leaving nothing but the gray sludge of their rations to drip down. She put her head down into her arms and cried, her back heaving from her wracking sobs. 

  
  


He didn’t know what to do to comfort her. He didn’t even know if he even knew how to comfort anyone. Her distress was completely his fault, he should have been more tactful. Maybe he shouldn’t have told her at all and just taken her to Jakku, even if that meant he would never see her again. Even if things were tough with his own parents, he figured he would react similarly if anything happened to them.

  
  


Ben leaned forward and grabbed Rey’s hand, her small fingers completely encompassed by his. He stroked the back of her hand cautiously with his thumb, knowing this wasn’t enough. He wished he could do more for her. Eventually, Rey’s sobs ceased, and she breathed in and out deeply as she calmed herself.

  
  


She stood, taking her hand away from Ben’s. He stood up with her, unsure of how she was going to respond next.

  
  


“I’m joining the Resistance. I have to avenge my parents. I will never set foot on Jakku again.”

  
  


She began to pace the room as she continued to put her new life-plan together. She recovered quickly, Ben noted. Perhaps she always knew her parents were gone. 

  
  


“Snoke is coming after me, too. That must be why you were hired to deliver me to the First Order.”

  
  


Ben felt like an idiot.  _ Of course _ , that’s why Rey was captured and he had been hired to deliver her, no questions asked. He wondered if Hux knew, and figured he wouldn’t be surprised if there was a bounty on his own head as well. His family tree wasn’t exactly a secret, especially to someone as well-informed as Hux. Perhaps the First Order defector intended to betray him, too, since he withheld information on what the initial job was. It was easy to collect bounties when they turned themselves in. 

  
  


“Ben… Come with me. I lost my parents, but you still have yours.”

He needed to join the Resistance with Rey in order to protect her. He couldn’t let anything bad happen to her. She wanted him to join the Resistance with her and he wanted to be with her, even if nothing would ever happen between them. 

  
  


“I don’t know about them, Rey, but I’ll join for you.”

  
  


Rey beamed at him even though her tears were still in her red, wet eyes. She threw her arms around his neck and stood on her toes to grab him tighter. Ben caught her and held her close to him, glad he could give her this happiness. 

  
  


He would join a thousand rebellions for her just to be by her side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for writing so slowly! Two more chapters, one with plot and one with smut, before I wrap up the fic. :)


End file.
